Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1887-07-21
PATHS MAGNIFICENT HOME.
George F Slosson Says Craig-y-Nos is in a
Fairyiand.

! ashore wnen the Dig steamship Omofld
reached her pier on Saturday night was
/ George Franklin Slosson, the young Chi
cago billiard champion. He wore broad
cloth suit, and carried in a green bag the
cues that he has used for the last eleven
years. His face was brown as berry
1 He had just come home from Wales,
whore he had been the guest of Nine.
/ Adelipa Patti and SigLor Nicolini at
Craig PATHS castle, and he talked
about the visit with enthusiasm.
/ He started with Signor Nicolini and
| the Diva on May IA, and on the 22i the
railway train landed him in Craig y-Nos.
The castle stands out on the crag away
up on the side of one of the Welsh noun
tains and it looked grotesquely unique
so the young Amtric The Diva has
made so many whimsical additions to the
original pile that it is hard TO make head
or tail OF the accumulated designs. The
interior was a revelation to the visitor.
He says it was fairly bewildering ir the
mggnifcepce of the furnishings. Both
the Diva and her husband are billiard en-
thusiasts, and they lavished money in
fitting up the billiard parlor of the castle,
Slosson says that nowhere in the world is
there such another billiard room.
1t is the northern wing O the castle on
the first floor. A rich partition divides
the parlor in5o two apartments. In one
is an English pocket billiard table as big
as the old fashioned American table, and
in the other is an American table. The
latter is
A MARVEL OF COSTLY WORKMANSHIP.
It is made of antique oak, richly inlaId
with ivory and silver and bronze plaques.
Soft carpets cover the floor, expensive
paintings hang upon the walls, and near
the frescood ceiling is a gallery for a
string orchestra. A grand piano stands
in one corner of the gallery. The orches-
ira does not play here any more though,
for its music has been transplanted by
an orchestrion that is set in the partition.
The Diva spent $l50,000 i'll perfection it,.
The orchestrion is inlaid with bronzes,
too, and is fitted now with cylinders that
play 100 different operas. Tue Diva had
the music started when Slosson vent into
the parlor to play an exhibition game
with her. 1t sounded to him like the
music of an orchestra of sixty pieces,
and filed the castle with melody.
The collection of cues in the billiard
sticks that were presented to the Dira
and Nicolini by many admires. Among
them is one from President Diaz, of
Mexico, others from Nignaux, Plot, and
young Jacob Schaefer, and Joseph Dion,
PATHS tutor. There are also four of diff
ferent design that SlossVn himself pre-
sented to Patti
Another wing in the southern end of
the castle is furnished on the same scale
of splendor as a breakfast room, and be-
yond that are two long conservatories.
The first is used a. dining room, and
amid its plants emo flowers
THE DIVA AND HER GUESTS
! sit down to the evening banquet. The
other conservatory is full of little CAT
cades and singing birds, and the atmos-
phere is laden with the mingled perfumes
OF many kinds of flowers. In this CON
servatory the Diva takes her evening
promenade with Signor Nicolini Az
night the whole main floor was aglow
with clusters of electric light.
! When Slosson first viewed sunrise from
| the crest of the crsg in front of the castle
he says the valley spread out away be
low him like view of fairy land. Run
ming through fertile prospect like sill
yer thread was the trout stream, where
Patti catches trout. She owns many
miles of the stream. Beyond the stream,
and reached by a rustic bridge, stretches
| the park. -Four miles away is Signor
Nicolini's hunting grounds and a salmon
stream. OF this stream the diva owns
! several miles, too.
/ Slosson found that Patti ruled the
the little domain like a queen. She APP
! peared to be immensely popular wherever
she went. Whenever she picked out a
team from her stables of sixteen fine
horses and had the team hitched up Ia
one of her ten carriages the Welshmen
and their wives Wed in doing homage to
/ her
Slosson remained at the castle for a
! fortnight, and durirg that time Mrs
Wassarman, married daughter of Bank
/ err Jessie Seligman, was one of the guests
| Slossun was to have stayed three months
/ but business affairs compelled him tc
cut the visit short, and come home.
HE WENT TO PARIS
to try and arrange a match or two witt
| Vignaux, the French champion, but the
| Paris just in tire TO see the Grand Pri1
race and drop 500 francs on the Baron
| In his four days stay in London he saw
! the close of the great 1900 point match
between Peel and Mitchell, that Peel
won after tight struggle. The play wa'
scientific, but Slosson does not think il
con- pares in this res peet with what Ameri
can champions can do with the cue.
Slosson started early last evening fer
| Michigan. where he is TO visit relatives
and after three days' stay he will go bach
home to Chicago. Before he started las
evening he wrote to Maurice DAILY, tht
cushion carrom champion, expressing I
hope that the proposed cushion -carron
tournaments to be held in this city anC
| Chicago would be successfully arranged
The plan is to have Schaefer and SeKtor
and DAILY and Slosson play, each putting
up $3.50. with $1,000 added by th'
Brunswick Bake Collender Company
/ Slosson offered to play DAILY home -and
home match at cushioH-carroms IN thr
city and Chicago, each tor $500, IN cast
the tournaments we're not arranged for
There seems to be some doubt abou
/ Schaefer's entering.